I'm looking for a lawyer.
I'm currently registering as a sole proprietor in the Philippines, which means a short legal review and a clean DTI, BIR, and mayor's permit registration. The bookkeeping side is now sorted with UPworth Business Support Services. The legal slot is still open, and I'm happy to do an X Deal, a full custom website (the same one you'd build with my order tool) in exchange for ongoing retainer service.
Cash works too. But an X Deal is more fun.
One role still open.
Lawyer / Legal Counsel
Help me formalize my client contracts as I register the practice: a Master Service Agreement, Mutual NDA, and Statement of Work template, plus a review of my Privacy Policy and Terms against Philippine law and cross-border clients. On call when a client wants a non-standard amendment.
- A few hours of review per month on average.
- Quick email turnaround when something time-sensitive comes up.
- Bonus: experience with freelancer / IT services contracts, IP assignment, and cross-border clients.
UPworth Business Support Services
My official bookkeeping and accounting partner. Five integrated practices, accounting and bookkeeping, payroll, BIR taxation and filings, business consultancy (registrations and permits), and external audit. Based in General Trias, Cavite.
Symmetric, and documented both ways.
Each side gives one-time work plus an ongoing retainer. We sign both directions in writing so there is no fuzziness, then we get out of each other's way. We hold one monthly check-in, 30 to 60 minutes, where we both flag anything the other should know about.
Website + monthly upkeep.
- One-time: a full custom website for your firm. Same scope and quality as the work from Enclave Digital, configured for your industry, deployed on Vercel, yours to keep.
- Ongoing retainer: hosting watch, content edits, small updates, and on-call for the little stuff. The same retainer I sell to paying clients for ₱1,000 a month, free for you.
Retail equivalent: ₱20,000+ build, ₱1,000/mo upkeep.
Legal review + ongoing counsel.
- One-time: a clean review of my NDA, Master Service Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Use. Flag anything that needs tightening for Philippine law and for our cross-border clients.
- Ongoing retainer: a few hours of review per month when a client wants a non-standard amendment, plus on-call email turnaround when something time-sensitive comes up.
Retail equivalent: similar order of magnitude. We can match the scope on both sides.
No cash changes hands. We each document our side at fair market value for our own records and tax reporting, and we sign the arrangement in writing in both directions. Each side keeps the other on a retainer for at least 12 months from signing. After that we re-evaluate, and if it is still working we keep going.
The PH sole-proprietor checklist I'm working through.
In case you want context before reaching out, these are the public references I used to map out the registration plan. The ideal partner already knows them by heart.
- DTI Business Name Registration System, for registering the trade name.
- BIR, TIN and BIR Form 1901, for self-employed registration with the BIR.
- Department of Trade and Industry, general MSME registration guidance.
- Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173), applies to anyone running a business that collects personal data online.
- E-Commerce Act of 2000 (RA 8792), gives legal weight to electronic signatures and contracts.
- SSS, Self-employed registration, and similar for PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG.
I'll get there with or without help. But I'd rather get there with a partner. Erick